House-end service attachment



1943. H. L. WICKSTROM 2,336,144

HQUSE-END SERVICE ATTACHMENT Filed gab. 4, 1942 INVENTOR. HAIPPV A. IV/CA JTPOM BY Mn) ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 7, 1943 HOUSE-END SERVICE ATTACHMENT Harry L. Wiekstrom, Denver, 0010., assignor to Line Material Company, Milwaukee, W1s., a

corporation of Delaware Application February 4, 1942, Serial No. 429,470 6 Claims. ('01. 248-237) This invention has to do generally with devices used for supporting electrical conductor wires and pertains specifically to a device adapted to be secured to a sloping roof-more particularly, a shingled roofand designed for attachment thereto of a so-called dead-end connection.

In bringing electrical supply lines or telephone lines into a house it is generally a code requirement that an overhead clearance of at least eight feet be maintained. This has often given rise to some little difiiculty in connection with one story bungalows where the supply lines could not conveniently be brought in at a point where a deadend connection could be made to a wall directly under the gable at the required height; and this was true because, to the best of my knowledge, there was not heretofore available any deadending support suitable for attachment to a sloping shingled roof which would not have been objectionable on the score of being injurious to the roof as, for instance, the likelihood of causing the roof to leak.

The principal object of the present invention is to devise a dead-end support which can easily be secured to a sloping roofparticularly a shingled roofwithout prospect of resulting injury to the roof, and which is so designed as to preclude accumulations of water thereunder which would tend to cause deterioration of the underlying shingle surface-where the shingles are of wood.

Another object is to provide a dead-end support which is capable of being so anchored to the roof that it will resist successfully the pull of the conductor attached thereto without being apt to work loose and thus permit water to seep into the shingles as a result of enlargement of the nail holes through which it is attached.

Still another object is to devise a dead-end support which is adequately strong and rigid, but which nevertheless can be manufactured very cheaply.

The novel features of my dead-end support, by .virtue of which the aforementioned objects have been realized, will be pointed out in the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein is depicted the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a roof-section with a dead-end support mounted thereon, and portrays the manner in which a lead-in conductor ordinarily is dead-ended to the support;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1-being drawn to a considerably enlarged scale by comparison with Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the dead-end support.

The dead-end support illustrated comprises a rectangular base-plate ID of extended area, and a dead-end attachment member H. The deadend attachment member is made of a strip of sheet metal of semi-circular channel-shape cross section and consists of a looped portion I la, preferably hook-shaped, and a straight shank p012 tion Ill). The shank portion llb is welded along its lateral extremities, at l2 and i3, to one surface of the base-plate. Both the base-plate and attachment member should be made of fairly heavy gauge sheet steel stock and galvanized or otherwise rust-proofed. By making the deadend attachment member from a strip of channelshape cross section there is effected a maximum degree of rigidity with a minimum of material and the welds l2 and 13 are thereby spaced apart in such manner as to accomplish a connection to the base-plate having a high degree of lateral rigidity; that is to say, a strong and rigid connection to the base-plate and one which is easy to weld and therefore economical from the manufacturing standpoint.

Attachment member H is situated near what may be called the forward end of the baseplatewhich leaves a fiat area [4 of considerable length-which latter area will for convenience be called the rear portion or rear area of the base-plate.

Disposed at either side of the dead-end attachment are frustro-conical bosses l5, [6, H, and I8 which are formed in the base plate and pierced axially, each to accommodate a nail l9 by means of which the support is secured to the roof-see Fig. 2. Bosses l5 to I8, inclusive, serve two useful purposes. First they tend to prevent distortion of the base-plate resulting from hammer blows in driving the nails, and they tend to prevent water seeping through the nail holes to the under side of the base plate. This is due, in part, to the fact that the nail holes are elevated in such manner as to prevent pools of water forming therearound, and to the more important fact that because of the bosses the nail heads are always driven more firmly against the metal surrounding the nail holes than would be the case if the bosses were not provided. The bosses being spread out at their bases tend to prevent the base-plate being distorted by hammer blows.

In mounting the support on a roof, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1, the rear portion I4 is pushed under the butt end of a shingle so that rain water flowing down the roof will not get under the rear edge of the base-plate and thereby give rise to a more or less permanent wet spot which would tend to cause the underlying shingle to rot.

The support is mounted at a point on the roof, as shown in Fig. 1, which will afford the necessary overhead clearance for the incomingconjductor 20'the latter being connected to the: hook through the medium of a suitable insulator, 2| and a dead-end strain wire 22.

Conductor 2!] being usually drawn taut and frequently being subjected to whipping winds; it is apparent that thee dead-endsupport is like- 1y to be subjected to considerable physical stress-which, in turn, is necessarily transmitted to the shingles; and it will be evident that the support, to be entirely successfuL'must' be not only rugged in itself, but of such design that the forces transmitted to the shingles will not be likely to doinjury thereto. The dead-end'support which I have illustrated is well adapted" to" meet these requirements, first because'th'e 'four n'ail holes are adequately spaced apart and; secondly, though of at least equal importance, because the rear portion 14 of the'base 'plateis helddown by an overlying shinglein" such man'- ner as to afford good and adequate leverage for resisting the pull on the hookand said overlying shingle can be nailed down adjacent the rear edge of the base-plate so as to further increase this advantage.

If desired, the exposed edges of the base-plate can be sealed with pitch or other suitable-waterproofing compound, thus further insuring against water infiltration and" consequent injury" to the shingles.

Although my new dead-end'support' is intended primarily for use on shingled roofs, its'utility; ob'-' viously, is not so limited.

I claim:

1. A dead-end support comprising a flat sheet metal base-plate and dead-end attachingmeans secured to a surface-thereof and projecting ina" direction perpendicularly therefrom said means comprising a strip of channel-shape cross-section bent to form an eye suitable for reception of'a strain Wire.

2.- A dead-end support comprising a'fiat sheet" metal base-plate and a hook attached toand" projecting in a direction perpendicularly" from a" surface of said base-plate, said hook being formed of sheet metal and having a channelshape cross-section.

3. A dead-end support comprising a flat sheet metal base-plate and a hook having a shank portion of channel-shape cross-section, the lateral edges of said shank portion being welded to a surface of said base-plate with: the hook portion per se projecting in a direction perpendicularly from said surface.

4. A dead-end support comprising a fiat sheet metal base-plate of extended area having a rear portion adapted to be inserted under the butt edge of aroof shingle with the forward portion ther'eof exposed, and a hook having a shank portion of channel-shape cross-section, the lateral edges of said-shankportion being welded to a surface of said'base plate, said hook being situated. onthe forward area of said base-plate and projecting in a direction perpendicularly from said surface;

5; A dead-endsupportincluding a'sheetmetal' base-plate and a dead-endattachment member secured to a" surface of said base plate, said member comprising" a metal strip of channel shape cross section having a shank portion and a looped portion; said shank portion being welded to said base-plate surface alongthe lateral extremities of said shank portion, said looped por ti'on' projecting in a direction perpendicularly from'said surface.

6; Adead-end support comprisi'n'g' a flat sheet metal base-plate of extended area having a rear portion" adapted to be inserted under the butt" edge of a roofshingle" with the'fo'rward portion" thereof exposed, and a dead-endatta'ching mend ber disposed on'a surfac'e'ofsaid base-plate at the forward portion' thereof, said"at'taching member being formed of a metal strip of channel-shape cross section andcomprisin'gan eye portion and a shank portion, the'lateral' edges of the channel-shape strip which form said shankportion" being welded-to said surface, said eye portion 45 projecting ina direction"perpendicularly from" ing member'and to eitherside thereof; said bosses projecting from the same'side' of said base-plate as that from which said attaching member pro- J'CtS;

HARRY L. WICKSTROM. 

